Finishing tool



Dec. 24, 1935. E J, L Eg 2,025,688

FINISHINCTV TooL Original Filed Dec. 8, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i@ n iDec. 24, `1935.

E. J. LEES FINISHING T'ooL Original Filed Dec. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2@wma w d, EN mn J .v HHH|I||||||v||| I |H||| l :M M .www N mw 9 nINVENTOR. m9 ,EM IL m n@ Nm @Q Ow mm the like may be cut by generating adesired tooth 'y Patented Dec. 24, l1935 UNlTl-:D fsTA'rl-s- PATENToFFloE FINIsmNG 'rooL poration of Ohio Application December 8, 1930,Serial No. 500,692 Renewed June 13, 1935 19 claims. (o1. 51-123)This`inventionrelatos to methods and machines for cutting surfaces ofgear teeth and the like, and is particularly applicable to the cuttingof inclined teeth such as those of helical gears.

An object of the inventionl is to provide an improved machine by whichhelical gear teeth and surface. .t

Another object ofl the invention is to provide an improved method bywhich the teeth of a helical gear may be so moved relative a cuttingdevice that the true curve desired will be generated upon each tooth.

Another object is to provide an improved mechanism by which'two surfacescan be simultaneously generated with extreme accuracy.

Another object is to provide a mechanism which will be simple inconstruction and operation.

' Another object is to provide an improved mechanism in ywhichcomparatively few parts must be formedwith extreme accuracy. l

Other objects will hereinafter appear.V

'rllheini'fention will be lbetter understood from the;` description ofone practical embodiment thereof illustratedin the ,accompanyingydrawings, in which: .Y ,Y

- Fi 'fe 1 is a front Aelevation of theV machine w f .f sa

i .emboiizins the inventiein;v

`i FleureZ `is an vend elevationof the machine of Figure `1'y tallrenfrom the leftfof, this ligure; and

sureisia similar elevation taken from the rishtlOrFisre 1-. .n A Themachine comprises a bed or base I upon 'wnign thecuttlng mechanism',illustrated as a pair `of grinding` wheels, `and the work supportingmechanism are carried. Upwardly extending supDDrtS 2 and 3 are rigidlyattached to the bed andcarry ahorizontal or top supporting member 4i'onwhich thevwork holding apparatusis posit oned.

The vertical and horizontal supports z, "3 'and 4 enclose a centralspace within which the cut- ;ting members, illustrated as' a pairvofgrinding wheels land @are positioned. Horizontal ways 1 are vformedonthe upper ,surface of the bed within the central open -.space',tlfeseways extending longitudinallyvalong said space, and upon these aremounted two tables or carriages 8 `which may be adjusted along said waysby screws 9 threaded through depending bosses/Ill on the carriages, eachscrew being provided with a worm wheel II k.with which' meshes a worm I2mounted onxa', horizontal'shaft `I3 and provided atits outer'end withahandwheel I4. j y l y l,pivoted upon each" table 8. to' be adjustable`about javertical vaxis isfa circular support I5. Formed/integrally with,the-'support 1s' a depend'- mgnjnge le provideatngits.outer penpherywith worm fwhe'el teeth whichy `withl va worm'f formed'on a 'shaft I1having' a vsquared end to -a'bevelled pinion' 21 supported in a bearing28 receive a wrench, crank or handle by which the angular position ofthe support may be adjusted. Guides or ways I8 are formed upon the uppersurface oi.' the circular support and a'slide I9 adjustably carriedthereby. The slide I9 is provided on its upper surface with guides orways 20 extending in a direction perpendicular to the guidesl andmounted on the last mentioned ways in a tool spindle supporting member 2I.

Means for operating the tool spindle support 10 consist of twohandwheels 22 and 23 mounted on horizontal shafts 24 and 25`respectively. The inner ends of these shafts are provided with bevelledpinions 26, that on shaft 24 meshinglwith carried by the base, and thaton shaft 25 meshy ing with the bevelled pinion 29 similarly supported inbearing 30. The pinion 29 is splined to a horizontal shaft 3| which4carries on its inner end a bevelled pinion 32. A sleeve 33 sur- '20rounds shaft 3| and to the sleeve is splined pinion 2,1, the sleevebeing supported in bearing 34, and assisting in supporting the shaft 3|,the sleeve terminating in a'bevelled pinion 35` A central 'verticalshaft 36 terminates in a 25 bevelled pinion 31 meshing with pinion 32and is surrounded with a sleeve 38 having at 'its lower end a bevelledpinion 39 meshing with pinion 35,

-the shaft being journalled in the sleeve and the sleeve, in turn, beingjournalled in the carriage 8.30 The upper endof sleeve 301s providedwith abevelled pinion 40 whichv meshes with the gear 4I fixed to a.vscrew 42, the screw being threaded through a.v depending boss 43 on theslide I9, 'so that, irrespective of, the position of the table, 85rotation of handwheel 22 will cause the slide to be translated alongways I8. l

A bevelled pinion 44 is secured to the upper end of shaft 3 6 and mesheswith a bevelled pinion 45 on a horizontal shaft 46 journalled in the 40circular table I5. The end of this shaft is provided with a gear 41meshing witha gear 48 secured to a shaft 49 to which is splined a worm50 driving a worm wheel 5I having a threadon its interior, by whichit`may be caused to trav- 45 erse a screw 52 secured to the spindlesupport 2 I, and so traverse this support along guides 20.

`A spindle 53 is journalled in the support 2l and is provided on itsinner end with a grinding 50 wheel having a' flat outwardly directedgrinding face 54, with which the cutting of the gear teeth is effected.Theopposite end of the spindle is provided with a pulley y55 driven by abelt. 56 by power from a motor 51, the motor driving a pul- 55 ley 58carried by slide 'Iil.` Adjustmentof the belt is providedby idler on59,-o'n 60 pivoted on the axis yof the motor shaft. LA clutch 6I havingan ,operating handle, 62 releases the pulley ,58 from the motor, orengages it with the power v hereinafter described.b t

Trunnioned on the slide isa work spindle support 61 which is clampedinto position as by bolts 68 and in which is journalled a'work spindle69 to the lower end of which a work gear 10 may be secured.

The upper end of the workl spindle has con-v nected to it a spur pinion1|, which meshes with the oblique teeth of a rack 12 adjustably carriedin a holder 18 which may be adjustably secured upon the upper surfacevof. support 4.

This rack is formed of three parts, the central one of which, 12a., isrigidly connected to thecarp rier, while the lower one of which, 12b, isslidable and urged slightly out of alinement with the stationary portionby a spring for the purpose of preventing any looseness or backlashbetween the pinion 1| and the teeth of the stationary portion.

, The upper portion, 12e, of the rack extends beyondv the stationary andlower portions, and may be moved a distance equal to that betweenadjacent teeth for indexing the Work spindle. The means for operatingthis indexing portion of the rack will be later described.

The means fomoperating the work carrying mechanism consists of a motor13 mounted on the base I and driving, through a belt 14, a pulley 15 andthe end of a transverse shaft 16 journalled on the base, the oppositeend of which shaft is provided with a gear 11 driving a gear 18 securedto another transverse horizontal shaft 19. The gears" and` 18 may bechanged tosvary the speeds at which the parts arev driven.

The shaft 19 is provided at its inner end with a bevelled pinion meshingwith a bevelled pinion 8| on a vertical shaft 82 which, adjacent its'lupper end, is provided lwith a worm 88 driving a worm wheel 84attached' to a horizontal shaft 85 having at its outer end a slottedcrank disc 86 in the slot of which the crank 88 is adjustably mounted.

The shaft as is and'providea with a disc s1.

having a pin 88 constituting one element of a Geneva movement, the otherelement of which is a notched disc 89 mounted on a shaft 90 providedwith a gear 9| driving a gear 92 upon shaft 93 with an intermittentmotion.

The shaft 99 carres a vcrank disc 94 operating a connecting rod 95 whichoscillates an arm 96 attached to shaft 91 provided at one end with abevelled pinion 98.y 'Ihis pinion drives a bev-l elled pinion 99attached to a shaft'l00. Splined upon shaft |00 is a sleeve |0|journalled in the rack carrier 18 so that it may be oscillated at anyposition by the `drive above described: This sleeve is provided on oneend with a bevelled piniony |02 meshing with a bevelled pinion |00 fixedto a transverse shaft |04 also journalled cn carrier 18. Splined upon'shaft |04 is a pinion |05 which meshes with a rack |06 cut in the upperedge of part 12e, (the indexing rack) so that the indexing rack isreeiprocated back and forth by the action of the Geneva movement. Thisreciprocation, of course, takes place when the work gear has rolledbeyond'the grinding wheels and turns the same one or more teeth,allowing the mastergear to roll back onto the fixed portion posedobliquely to` the plane bisecting said di- :inattesa7 12a of the rackbefore the teeth contact the grinding wheels.

By using a rack having inclined teeth parallel tothe axis of the workspindle, it is possible to use a spur pinion at 1|. While it would bepossible to use a. pinion with helical teeth and a rack with verticalteeth, this cannot be done until tHE. machine has been used to generatethe required master gear, as no prior type of machine is capable ofaccurately generating tooth surfaces of 10 helical gear. However, thespur gear above described may be accurately made upon.v types ofmachines already known, .and with a rack having inclined teeth, it ispossible to obtain an accurate rolling motion ofthe work spindle, and sohere- 1 5 after will be possible to produce accurate helical mastergears.

While I have described the illustrated embodiment of my'invention insome particularity, obviously many others will readily occur to thoseskilled in this art, and I, therefore, do not limit myself to theprecise details shown and described herein, but claim as my inventionall embodiments, variations and modications coming within the scope ofthe appended clams.

I claim:

1. A machine comprising two rotating cutters having flat cuttingsurfaces lying in planes forming a' dihedral angle, a Work supportingspindle translatable in a direction normal to the apex 30 of saiddihedral angle, and rotatable about its axis, its axis being oblique'tothe apex of said dihedral angle.

2. A machine comprising two rotating cutters having plane cuttingsurfaces, the planes of the 35 surfaces'forming a dihedral angle', awork supporting slide moving in a direction normal to the planebisecting said dihedral angle, a rotatable spindle carried therebyhaving its axis dis- 40 hedral angle, and means'for translatingsaidslide and simultaneously rotatingsaid spindle.

3. A machine comprising a base, two obliquely disposed horizontal toolspindles supported thereby, means for rotating said spindles, ahorizontally movable slide, a work spindle trunnioned on said `slide andadjustably secured thereto-at any desired angular position, and meansfor recipro-- cating said slide and simultaneously rotating said workspindle. 5.0

4. A machine of the character described comj direction of the motion ofthe slide, a gear having teeth parallel its axis xed to one end of thespindle, and a rack havingoblique teeth parallel to the axis .of thespindle carried by the base 65 meshing with said gear.

6. A machine of the character described, comiprising a base, a slidereciprocably supported thereby, a work supporting spindle journalled inthe slide and disposed at an oblique angle to 70, the direction of themotion of the slide, a gear having teeth parallel its axis fixed to oneend of the spindle, arack having oblique teeth parallel to the axis ofthe spindlecarried by the base meshing with said gear, the rackconsisting of a 75y stationary part upon which the gear may roll duringthe working portion of the reciprocation of the slide, an indexingportion movable -relative the xed portion, and means for moving saidmovable portion when the gear has rolled beyond said fixed portion.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a frame. a slidereciprocable thereon, a spindle journalled in the slide, ailat-facedtool carried by the frame and having a fiat working face, the spindlebeing oblique to said working face and to the direction of motion of4the slide, and means causing the spindle to rotate as the slide isreciprocated with a rolling action relative the frame whereby a workpiece supported by the spindle has an involute-generating action inpassing the fiat face of the tool.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, a slidereciprocable thereon, a spindle journalled in the slide, two fiat-facedtools carried by the frame and having flat working faces, the spindlebeing oblique to said working faces and to the direction of motion ofthe slide, and means causing the spindle to rotate Lupon thereciprocation of the slide with a rolling action relative the framewhereby a work piece supported by the spindle has an involute-generatingaction in passing the fiat faces of the tools i'n either direction. n

9. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, stationaryjournals therein, two tool spindles carried by said journals anddisposed with their axes in oblique relation, ilatfaced tools on saidspindles, a slide carried by the frame, a work spindle journalled insaid slide and having its axis oblique to the direction of the motionthereof, a master gear carried by the work spindle, a master rack fixedto the frame and meshing with said master gear whereby as the slide isreciprocated a work gear carried by the work spindle is caused to rollwith a generating action relative the planes of both said tools.

10. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, stationaryjournals therein. two tool spindles carried by said journals anddisposed with their axes in oblique relation, fiatfaced tools on saidspindles, a slide carried by the frame and reciprocabie in a planeparallel to that defined by the axes of the tool spindles, a workspindle journalled in said slide and having its axis oblique to thedirection of the motion thereof, a master gear carried by the workspindle, a master rack fixed to the frame and meshing with said mastergear whereby as the slide is reciprocated a work gear carried by thework spindle is caused to roll with a generating action relative theplanes of both said tools.

11. Themethod of nishing gear teeth which comprises supporting a workgear with its axis oblique to the flat surface of a cutting tool,translating the gear relative the tool in a direction oblique to itsaxisk and to the flat surface of the tool, and simultaneously rotatingthe gear to cause a tooth to roll-across the iiat surface of the tool.

12. The method of nnishing helical gear teeth which comprises rolling awork gear blank across a fiat-faced cutting tool, the direction of thetranslatory component of the motion of the work gear being oblique toits axis.

13. The method of nishing helical gear teeth which comprises rolling awork gear across the ilat surfaces of two cutting tools, these surfaceslying in intersecting planes, the translatory component of the rollingmotion of the work gear being-in a direction oblique to the axis of thework gear and in a plane normal to the intersection of lsaid firstmentioned planes.

14. A helical gear producing machine of the 5 character describedcomprising a frame, a work spindle slidably and rotatably mountedthereon, the direction otv the sliding motion being oblique to the axisof the spindle, means for sliding the spindle, inter-engaging meanscarried by the 10 spindle and frame whereby the means carried by thespindle is caused to roll upon that carried by the frame when thespindle is moved, and cutting means carried by the frame having cuttingsurfaces defining the sides of a dihedral angle, 15 the apex of thedihedral angle and axis of the work spindle being noncoplanar.

15. The method of nishing helical gear teeth which comprises providingcutting means having cutting edges operating in two sides of a dihedralangle, supporting a work gear with its axis in a plane parallel to theapex of said dihedral angle and oblique to the trace of said apex insaid plane, translating the gear relative the cutting means whilemaintaining its axis in said plane, and simultaneously rotating the gearto cause its teeth to roll across the dihedral angle.

V16. A helical gear producing machine of the character describedcomprising a base, cutting means carried thereby having cutting surfaces3o operating in the sides of a dihedral angle, a work spindle slidablyand rotatably carried by the base and slidable in a plane parallel tothe apex of said dihedral angle, the axis of said spindle being obliqueto the trace oi.' the apex of the di- 35 hedral angle upon said planeand positive rotating means associated with said spindle causing it torotate as it is reciprocated.

17. A helical gear producing machine of the character describedcomprising a base, cutting 40 means carried thereby having cuttingsurfaces operating in the sides of a dihedral angle, a work spindleslidably and rotatably carried by the base and slidable in a planeparallel to the apex of said dihedral angle, and perpendicular to a 45plane bisecting said dihedral angle, the axis of said spindle beingoblique to the trace of the apex of the dihedral angle upon said plane,and positive rotating means associated with said spindie causing it torotate as it is reciprocated.

18. A helical gear producing machine of the character describedcomprising a base, cutting means carried thereby having cutting surfacesoperating in the sides of a dihedral angle, a work spindle slidably androtatably carried by the base 55 and slidable in a plane parallel to theapex of said dihedral angle, the axis of said spindle being oblique tothe trace of the apex of the dihedral angle upon said plane, a masterrack carried by the base, a master gear conjugate thereto fixed 50 tothe spindle, and indexing means engageable with the master gear andoperative during that part of the cycle when Work is not being cut.

19. A helical gear producing machine of the character describedcomprising a base, cutting 65 means carried thereby having two cuttingsurfaces which operate in the sides of a dihedral angle, a work spindlecarried by the base and reciprocable in a plane parallel to the apex ofsaid dihedral angle, the axis of the spindle being 70 noncoplanar withsaid apex of the dihedral angle, and means positively rotating thespindle as it is reciprocated.

ERNEST J. LEES.

CERTIFICATE oF coRREcTioN.

Patent No. 2,025,688.

ERNEST J. LEES.`

December 2.4, i935.

Itis hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification ofthe above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2,firstcolumn',\ line 55, for "oarres" read carries.; and second column,line 57,. claim 4,v strike ou't the word "work"; and that the saidLetters Patent should be read with. these corrections therein .that thelsaune may conform to the record l* of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 17th day of March, A. D. 1936.

' Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

